Thanks to a fellow member's generous PIF, I am now the owner of this Torrey, my first straight. Now to just work up the guts to try it for the first time!
I might even try to do a little polishing...
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Thanks to a fellow member's generous PIF, I am now the owner of this Torrey, my first straight. Now to just work up the guts to try it for the first time!
I might even try to do a little polishing...
If it came shave ready I would not polish the blade in case you dull it.
Bob
True. I will wait until I try to shave with it first.
If careful during polishing would it require honing or possible just stropping?
Couldn't really say, somebody with more experience might be able to answer that for you.
Bob
Welcome to SRP, Sweetfngrs!
I just had a similar Torrey arrive today-Happy shaving to you.
In general when you polish a blade it requires honing to one degree or another.
Nice looking SR. After enlarging your picture I'd say your going to need to sharpen the blade. I'd vote for a professional honing to get you off to a good start.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetfngrs
I'm my opinion I'd leave the age on the blade alone because to polish it correctly you'll need to take the scales apart.
It looks nice with the patina. I would not polish it (if you want my opinion).
If you polish it, it will need honing. No matter how careful I am, I have never been able to clean up a blade to any significant degree without touching the edge accidentally at some point (it only really requires the slightest touch to foul it, particularly when abrasives are in play).
What they said. Any sanding and polishing should be done when you are figuring on having it honed anyhow. Also, polishing is not really needed when there is no rust. The dark patina doesn't hurt anything. It actually provides some small amount of protection from rust and it looks cool if it is nice and even. It really shows off the bevel, too, at the edge and on the spine.
If it is shave-ready, shave with it. When it is dull, sure, if you like, polish it up. Then have it honed. Of course you could also get yourself a second shave-ready razor to shave with while you teach yourself to hone with the first one.
Agreed, for best results you need to remove it from the scales to polish, and then re-pin. It's not that hard, but you will need to use the proper procedure and avoid damaging the scales.
FWIW, it looks like it has not been honed recently, though it could just be the lighting and angle. If you pass the blade over your forearm, about 1/4" above the skin, does it lop off the tops of any hairs? And if it does, does it make a loud pingle-tinkle sound and sort of grab before it cuts, or does it slice through them with minimum drama? Or does it do nothing at all? This is a pretty good indicator of whether it is capable of shaving your face properly or not. If it won't treetop arm hair, well, it still might shave, but if you try to shave your face and nothing much happens, you can probably blame the edge, and figure on sending it to someone for honing. I would definitely not recommend that you try to do that yourself at this point. You need to learn how to shave and learn what makes a shave ready edge first, before giving it a go. Otherwise I predict lots of frustration, when you don't know whether your problems are from your shaving technique or your honing technique.
The stickies in the beginner forum are a great resource with lots of useful hints and information. Good reading, while waiting for your freshly honed razor to be returned to you.
Welcome! Did the member say it was honed and ready to shave?
He did say it had been honed by mainaman
I missed that. Thanks, Sweetfngrs.
It would very likely be shave ready then if the honing was fresh.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetfngrs
Bob
Yeah, I'm just not sure how recent. May just need a good stropping.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Congrats...I'm only 3 days in and now I'm hooked....looking for my next blade! Just take it slow....only do sideburns on your first try, WTG only! Shave a little more each day, unless your uncomfortable! Good Luck and Enjoy!!
I shaved sides WTG with it this morning with no issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by TulaneBoy
After just a little newspaper stropping,(haven't order a real one yet) this evening, it did tree top some arm hairs. A few I times didn't feel it, others it caught and pulled a little. It depended on the angle I was holding the razor. Maybe with a little more stropping, and I will have a more shave ready razor.
Hmmm... treetopping without pulling or pinging, just silent, is a sign of a very very sharp edge. But a very very sharp edge should treetop more than just a few hairs. Should lop off several with one pass. But anyway it should be sharp enough to shave with, so it's all on you. Anyway the test depends as much on your hair texture as the razor, so its a YMMV type thing. But if it wasn't sharp enough to shave then it shouldn't even treetop any hairs at 1/4" above the skin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetfngrs
Newspaper makes a usable strop in a pinch. Some guys lay it flat on something but I think it works better, more like a regular strop, if you fold a whole sheet into a 3" wide or maybe 2-3/4" wide strip, pass an end behind a towel rod, pinch the ends together and pull back tight.
In the long run you really need a leather strop, though. You should probably google one up. I'm not sure if it is okay to recommend my favorite or not but any strop with plenty of satisfied users will do you just fine.
Very important point. The owner should definitely get the razor professionally honed in order to find out what "shave ready" feels like. Later on, he can learn how to hone it himself and see about getting it shined up. But that's a fine vintage razor and should be a terrific shaver to learn with.Quote:
Originally Posted by rmagnus
Here is a big clue to achieving better shaves that you said yourself :) The angle at which you're holding the razor will play a huge part and is something we emphasize often around here. Yes, a good stropping will help tweak or smooth a shave ready edge, but if you use the wrong angle when shaving it'll all be for nought. Hang in there and keep trying :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetfngrs